Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for preventing data loss in target volumes associated with copy service functions.
Background of the Invention
When a user performs a copy service function such as establishing a FlashCopy or PPRC (Peer-to-Peer-Remote-Copy) relationship between a source volume and a target volume, mistakes may be made such as selecting an incorrect target volume to receive data from the source volume. This may result in original data being overwritten and lost on the target volume. Although a user may back up data before making changes to a target volume, managing thousands or even tens of thousands of volumes can be very difficult and error-prone. Ensuring that volumes are correctly backed up, as well as remembering where backup data is stored and when the backup data is no longer needed, almost inevitably leads to data loss at some point in time. In order to avoid data loss, many administrators choose to simply add storage instead of deleting data. This, unfortunately, results in storing and maintaining large quantities of unused data.
Although various safeguards may be put in place to prevent overwriting data on a target volume, such safeguards are often insufficient. For example, before establishing a FlashCopy or PPRC relationship between a source volume and a target volume, a message may be presented to a user that warns the user that data on the target volume may be overwritten. Although effective if heeded, the reality is that such messages become cumbersome, taken for granted, and frequently ignored. Such messages may also be ineffective in cases where the user believes the target volume does not contain desired data. The result is that a mistake will inevitably occur and desired data will be overwritten and possibly lost.
In view of the foregoing, what are needed are systems and methods to prevent data loss in target volumes used in association with copy service functions. Ideally, such systems and methods will operate in the background without requiring substantial user intervention.